Generic Drug Manufacturer Stays In The Case.

Plaintiff brought an action against the manufacturers of a brand-name drug as well as its generic equivalent. The generic drug company demurred, citing PLIVA, Inc. v. Mensing (2011) 131 S.Ct. 2567, [180 L.Ed.2d 580], in which the United States Supreme Court held that claims a generic drug manufacturer should have included stronger warning labels than those approved for use on the equivalent brand-name drug are preempted by federal law. The trial court overruled the demurrer and the appellate court affirmed, stating: “In this case, in contrast, plaintiff alleged that the brand-name drug label was updated, but the generic drug manufacturers failed to update their labels accordingly. In other words, the generic drug labels did not match the brand-name drug label. Consequently, we conclude plaintiff’s claims in this regard are not preempted by federal law.” Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. v. Sup.Ct. (Olga Pikerie)  (Cal. App. Fourth Dist., Div. 3; June 13, 2013) 217 Cal.App.4th 96.